Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 31, Number 7, 1 July 2014 — Place-based education and cultural sustainability initiatives on Lānaʻi [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Place-based education and cultural sustainability initiatives on Lānaʻi

Trustee 's note: This month 's eolunm is written by Kepā Maly, resident ofLāna'i, euhwal historian and ethnographer.

n 2008, Trustees of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs (one of five signatory parties in a 1987 MOA on the isiand of Lāna'i) engaged in a capacity-bufiding initiative with the Lāna'i Cuiture & Heritage Center (www.lanaichc.org). OHA's support facilitated development of a series of place-based stewardship programs engaging Lāna'i's Hawaiian families and various partners in activities that are now growing and engaging muhiple generations and participants in the rich Hawaiian legacy of Lāna'i. Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education Native Hawaiian Education Act, the place-based education program "E 'Ike Hou Iā Lāna'i - Embracing Lāna'i's History through Language and Literacy" is a three-year program that began in 2013. The year-round programs are offered free of charge to Lāna'i residents and those interested in our island history. As a part of the year-two (2014) programs, Lāna'i CHC has been hosting a series of cultural land-

scape and literacy workshops, and just completed a three-week field school in Hawaiian Lifestyles, Archaeology, Marine Biology, Watershed Systems, Stewardship and Literature. The summer enrichment eamp was open to students entering grades 6-12 and recent high school graduates. Activities engaged participants in programs rooted in the native lore and practices of Lāna'i, and linked traditional knowledge with modern skills in environmental resource-management programs. Upper Lāna'i High & Elementary School students and recent graduates who completed the three-week course may also apply their experiences to development of college credits in English 100 and Anthropology 200. The program integrates traditional Hawaiian-language accounts penned by natives as early as the 1830s, and foreign accounts of Lāna'i. The historic literature documents practices, beliefs and changes that have occurred on Lāna'i over the last

180 years. The program integrates plaeebased knowledge of land, sea, water and people that are uniquely ours on Lāna'i.

Through a revival of traditional knowledge, history and sense of plaee, E 'Ike Hou Iā Lāna'i seeks to inspire wise use, stewardship and cultural sustainability among Lāna'i's present and future generations. Students in the summer program participated in both classroom and fieldwork. The activities included: (1) surveying a traditional Hawaiian fishpond at Waia'ōpae along the windward shore of Pālāwai Ahupua'a, (2) mapping ancient

lo'i kalo and other cultural-archaeological resources in Maunalei Valley, (3) engaging in programs of literacy in Hawaiian and English, and (3) exploring the marine environment with Hawai'i Pacific University marine biologists and visiting the Sea Education Association (S.E.A.) 135-foot research sailing vessel. Lāna'i CHC has been working closely with Lāna'i High & Elementary School, Pūlama Lāna'i, Honua Consulting, UH-Maui College, Hawai'i Pacific University/S.E.A., Queen Lili'uokalani Children's Center and community partners to create an engaging place-based curriculum for Lāna'i. Instructors included specialists in a wide range of fields including archaeology, marine biology, musicians, university professors, as well as longtime Lāna'i resident fishermen, anthropologists, environmentalists and cultural practitioners. Mahalo a nui to the many partners who have supported the vision of cultural sustainability on Lāna'i. ■

LEO 'ELELE V www.oha.org/kwo | kwo@OHA.org TRUSTEE MESSSAGES ' NATiVE HAWAIIAN » NEWS l FEATURES I EVENT S

Cūlette Y. Machade

ChairpErsūn, TrustEE Muluka'i aud Lāua'i

Participants in the E 'lke Hou lā Lāna'i place-based education program learned about the nearshore marine environment and worked on mapping projects at Hulopo'e Beach in June. - Courtesy: KepāMaly